Coin-controlled apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. I. W. SGHULTZE. 00m CONTROLLED APPARATUS.

N0. 50 2,8'91. Pa te"n;ced Aug. 8, 1893.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 21 G. F..W. SGHULTZE. I com CONTROLLEDAPPARATUS.

No. 502,891. v Patented Aug. 8,1893.

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAV F. W. SOHULTZE, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

COIN-COINTR'IOLLED APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,891, dated August8, 1893. I

Applicationfiled May 22 1893. smart. 475,129. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV F. W. SOHULTZE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Berkeley, Alameda county, State of California, haveinvented an Improvement in Coin- Controlled Apparatus; and I herebydeclare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of thesame.

My invention relates to that class of coin controlled apparatus in whicha disk is 1'0- tated by' the deposit of a coin acting through suitableintervening mechanism, said disk bearing on its face designs of anysuitable character, illustrating by their position, upon the stopping ofthe disk, any desired result, or a failure to reach a result.

My invention consists in'the novel connections whereby the deposit ofthe coin is enabled to rotate the disk, the means controlled by thestopping of the disk for determining by the'reaching, or the failure toreach, any determined result, whether the coin shall remain in theapparatus, or an equivalent coin shall be discharged therefrom, and themeans for preventing a misuse of the apparatus, whereby its functionsare perverted; and in various details of construction and arrangement,all of which I shall hereafter fully describe and specifically claim.

The object of my invention'is to provide an interesting machine of thisclass, in whichunless a pro-determined result be arrived at, the coin oran equivalent 1 thereof, deposited by the operator, shall be returned tohim. The result may be of any character, as, for example, the telling offortune,which may be offected by means of a prepared list of statementseach of which corresponds to a given position of the disk;

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanationof my invention,-Figure 1 is a general view showing the exterior of mymachine, with the exposed indicating disk B. Fig. 2 is a view of themechanism lying just behind the face-plate A on the front of themachine. Fig. 3 is a view of the mechanisms on the back, the dottedlines showing changed positions. Fig. at

is a horizontal section in the plane of shaft D.

Upon the face A of a suitable frame, is a rotatable disk B having uponit any suitable designs, such as are represented by the cards orotheripictorial illustrations 1) arranged in annular series about itsface. This disk is firmly secured to a wheel (3, which has in itsperiphery 'a'series of alternating depressions ofdifferent depths,'hererepresented by the notches c. and slots 0. The wheel 0 is se cured upona rotating shaft D which carries on itsinner end a plate d bearing aspring controlled pawl d. Upon the shaft is also mounted loosely asleeve E having a ratchet e which engages the pawl 61' in one direction,and slips it in the other. Secured to and wound upon this sleeve is acord F, the lower end of which extends downwardly, and is secured to aspring f below, said spring representing any suitable initial power,such as a'weight for rotating the shaft. The upper end of the cord issecured to a lever G which is pivoted at g, the other end of said leverbeing connected by a chain or cord g with the extremity of an arm h onapivoted lever II. The upper end of this pivoted lever H has ratchetteeth h with which a spring controlled pawl it engages.

I is a chute for the reception of the coin. The lower end of this chuteterminates in a barrel or cylinder J having an opening j in its bottom,said opening being directly above a funnel K, the lower end of which isin communication with the runway 70, the lower end ofsaid runway beingin communication with the discharge chute L opening to the outside. Thelower end of the funnel K has in its back an opening it into theinteriorof the machine.

In the barrel J is mounted and adapted to slide a hollow rod M, theinner end of which is open, and the outer'end is connected at m with thelever H. r

N is the operating lever, the outer end of which projects to theoutside. It is pivoted .at n, and its inner extremity 'n' is adapted tobear downwardly upon the pawl 7L2 which controls the lever H. A spring aholds the outer end of the lever N up, with its inner extremity normallybearing upon and holding the pawl h? out of its engagement with theratchet lever I-L- Suitable stops a control the movement of the innerend of the lever N. This lever N has a downwardly extending crank arm 0,the lower end of which isconnected with the plunger 0 adapted to moveinto and out of the hollow rod M within the barrel J.

The operation of the mechanism as far as described is as follows :A coinbeing dropped into the receiving chute I falls down into the barrel J,and rests temporarily in an upright position therein, directly in frontof the plunger 0. Now, the operating lever N is pressed down, wherebythrough its crank arm 0, the plunger 0 is moved forwardly into thebarrel against the coin, and this coin being betweeii the end of theplunger and the open end of the rod M within the barrel, acts as anobstacle in such a way that as the plunger advances pushingthe coin infront of it, the rod is forced outwardly from the barrel by the actionof the plunger through the intervening coin. The rod moving outwardlythrows the upper end of the lever H over, and the pawl 7L2 beingrelieved of the inner extremity of the operating lever N successivelyengages the ratchet teeth of lever H, and acts as a retaining pawltherefor. As the lever I-I moves over, its arm h is carried downwardlyand through the connecting chain g", the lever G is actuated, wherebythrough its cord F, it turns the sleeve E, the ratchet e of which nowslips the pawl cl and thereby winds up the cord on said sleeve and pullsthe spring f upwardly, under tension. This continues until the lever Nis released, whereby its spring n causes it to return to its normalposition. This return, first withdraws the plunger 0 whereby the coinbeing relieved, drops down into the funnel K and thence into the runway7c; and, second, the inner extremity of the lever Ncoming in contactwith the pawl 71 releases it from its engagement with the lever H, andthereupon the spring f acting through the cord F turns the sleeve E, theratchet of which, in this direction, engages the pawl d and therebyturns the shaft D which, through the wheel C, rotates the disk B on thefront of the machine. In this same movement, the cord F rewinding uponthe sleeve E, pulls the lever G down, and said lever, through its chaing acting on the arm It, moves the lever H back which thus returns therod M to its initial position within the barrel, ready for the receptionof a succeeding coin.

Now, in order to govern the disposition of the coins within the machine,I have the following mechanism: Just within the face of the machine is avertical lever Q, the upper extremity q of whichis adapted to enter,either a notch of the wheel 0 or one of the slots thereof, according tothe position at which said wheel may come to a state of rest. This leveris held to its engagement by a spring g. R is a pivoted lever having atits lower end an inwardly projecting pin a" which lies in the path ofthe lower end of the lever H. The upper end of this lever has connectedwith it a link 1' having a contact lug 0' which is adapted to come incontact with the pin on the lever Q. This lever Q also carries a pin gwhich is adapted to engage the teeth g of a spring controlled pivotedratchet bar having in its outer end a contact pin q. The operation ofthis mechanism is as follows :When the lever His thrown forwardly, asheretofore described, its lower end moving backwardly comes in contactwith the pin 4' of the pivotedlever R which has the effect of throwingthe upper end of lever B in the opposite direction, whereby its link 0"traveling over causes its contact lug r to come to engagement with thepin 1 on the lever Q. This has the effect of moving the lever Q out ofengagement with the wheel 0 which leaves the latter free, and said leveris held back out of its engagement, by the engagement of its pin g withthe teeth of the ratchet bar (1 Thus the wheel G with its disk B hasfull opportunity to spin, and to come to a state of rest.

New, to relieve the lever Q and allow it to return to its engagementwith the wheel, I have the following: S is a spring-actuated clockmechanism, controlled by a pendulum s, and proper escapement. Thewinding or driving shaft 8 of this clock-work has a crank arm 3 which isconnected with the outer extremity of the link at, and said crank armwhen thrown over to at position of rest, is adapted to come in contactwith the pin on the free end of the ratchet bar (1 Now, as the link 0"moves over, as heretofore described, it throws over the crank arm 8 andthereby winds up the clock mechanism S,

and when the lever B is released by the lever H, the crank arm inreturning under the power of its clock mechanism, will return the leverR, and at the end of its stroke and after the wheel C has come to aposition of rest, said crank arm, coming in contact with the pin (1 onthe ratchet bar (1 will force said bar down, thereby relieving the pinQ3 of the lever Q which latter, under the influence of its spring, willreturn to the wheel 0 and its extremity will engage said wheel, eitherby entering one of the notches c on the periphery, or one of the slots0' according to the position in which said wheel may have come to astate of rest. This limitation of the lever Q, at different distances,determines by its position, the retention or the return of the coins, asI shall now describe. T is a bell crank lever, pivoted at its angle. Onone arm it has a pin 15 which lies at the extremity of the coin runway70 where said runway communicates with the discharge chute L. Its otherarm carries a pin 15' which lies in the path of movement of the lever Q.Now, if the lever engages one of the notches cofthe wheel O,it does notcome incontact with the pin t, as it is stopped short thereof, so thatthe lever T remains, by gravity, in a position of rest with its pintdirectly in the line of the end of the runway 7t, and said pin thusholds the coin back; but if the lever Q engages one of the slots 0 ofthe wheel 0, it will move far enough over by this engagement, to come incontact with the pin t, whereby the bell crank lever T will be raised,and its pin t will be lifted from in front of the coin, which willthereupon pass out into the chute L, and will be delivered clear of themachine. Therefore, according to the position in which the wheel 0, withits attached disk B, comes to a state of rest, the lever Q will by thismovement to different distances, operate or will not operate the lever Twhich will release or detain the coin, andthus the object will besubserved of retaining the coin if the disk comes to rest at certainpoints, or returning it if it comes to rest at other points. As therunway 10 is full of coins, it isnecessary to control the discharge ofonly such coin or coins as it may be desired to return, and for thispurpose there is a pivoted lever U, the lower end of which carries astop pin u, adapted to traverse the passage of the runway, near itslower end, said lever being spring-controlled and having at its upperend a pin u lying in the path of movement of the arm h of lever H. Thelever U lies with its stop pin it normally in the path of the coins inthe runway, and the coins are thereby arrested, but as the arm It movesdownwardly and comes in contact with the pin it, the pin it is raised,and the coins pass down to the limiting pin 25 at the lower end. Now,when operated, as heretofore described, and the arm 72. rises, the leverU will immediately return, and its stop pin it will come in front ofsucceeding coins, allowing only one or more, as the case may be, toremain belowit, and to be held there by the pin tor relieved as the casemay be.

In order to prevent tampering with the apparatus, I have the followingmechanism: It may be possible for the operator by pressing down gentlyon the lever N, to effect the disengagement of the lever Q from a .notchof the wheel 0 but very slightly, and then by jarring the machine, toallow said lever to return and enter one of the slots of the wheel whichwould have the eifect of releasing all the coins without permitting thefull operation of the apparatus. To avoid this I have connected by acord V with one end of the lever G, a gravity stop W which lies down infront of the extremity of the runway This stop W, as the parts are woundup, as before described, descends by gravity, by the movement of thelever G and stops in front of the runway, and as the disk spins theleverG returning will, through the cord V pull and hold up the stop Wout of the way. But when the wheel 0 and its disk B are not allowed tospin, the lever G does not move, and, consequently, the pivoted stop Wwill hang in front of the coins, and will not allow them to come out.

The coins in the runway may be regarded as a working fund, fors'aidrunway must first be filled and remain so, before succeeding coins willpass permanently into the interior of the apparatus. When the runway hisfull, then upon the next operation of the machine, if the disk stops ina position to retain the coins, the coin just deposited being unable toget into the full runway will pass directly out through the opening itin the back of funnel K and fall into the machine, a proper receptaclebeing provided. Thisbegins the permanent profit. But if the disk stopssuccessively in position to deliver a coin exterior-1y, the row of coinsin the runway will gradually diminish and this must be replenished bysuccessive spinnings reaching a result, before profits will begin again.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a coin controlled apparatus, the combination of a rotatable disk,a power device, a connection between said device and the disk wherebythe latter is rotated, connections controlled by the insertion of a coinfor setting and tripping the power device, and a means com prisingawheel with depressions of different depths, and a lever to engage thesame controlled by the position of said disk when in a state of rest forretaining or returning a deposited coin, substantially as hereindescribed.

2. In a coin actuated apparatus, the combination of a rotatable disk, ashaft on which it is mounted, a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaft andhaving a pawl and ratchet connection therewith, a power device and acord or line connecting said device with the sleeve whereby they arereciprocally operated, an operating lever, and intervening mechanismcomprising a ratchet lever and means for operating and controlling itand a second lever connected with an arm of the ratchet lever and withthe cord or line, said mechanism being controlled by the deposit of acoin for winding up and tripping said sleeve, whereby the disk isrotated, substantially as herein described.

3. In a coin actuated apparatus, the combination of a rotatable disk,ashaft on which it is mounted, a sleeve loosely mounted on said shaftand having a pawl and ratchet connection therewith, a power device and acord or erating or main lever and intervening mechanism controlled bythe deposit of a coin for winding up and tripping said sleeve,consisting of a ratchet lever, a plunger and hollow rod receiving anintervening coin whereby the ratchet lever is operated by the mainlever, a pawl for controlling said ratchet lever. and operated by themain lever, an arm of said ratchet lever and a pivoted lever con--nected with said arm and with the cord or line of the sleeve,substantially as herein described. 4. In a coin controlled apparatus,the combination of a rotatable wheel carrying an indicating disk, saidwheel having annular series 'of alternating depressions of difierentdepths, a lever adapted to enter and to be limited at differentdistances by said depressions according to the position in which thewheel comes to a state of rest, a coin runway, and a stop operated bythe lever according to its po-- sition of engagement with the wheel toretain or discharge the coin from said runway, substantially as hereindescribed.

5. In a coin controlled apparatus, the combination of a rotatable wheelcarrying an indicating dial, said wheel having annular series ofalternating depressions of dilferent depths, a lever adapted to enterand to be limited at different distances by said depressions accordingto the position in which the wheel comes to a state of rest, a coinrunway and a stop operated by the lever according to its position ofengagement with the wheel, to retain or discharge the coin from saidpassage, consisting of the bell crank lever having the pin in the pathof the coins and the pin in the path of the lever, substantially asherein described.

6. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination of a rotatable diskwith carrying wheel having series of alternating depressions ofdiiferent depths in its periphery, a coin runway having an exteriordischarge, a stop controlling said discharge, a lever Q adapted toengage the depressions of the carrying wheel and to be limited therebyat diiferent distances, means for holding the lever away from itsengagement while the plate is rotating, means for tripping said lever toallow it to return to its engagement when the wheel is in a state ofrest, and means operated by the lever for actuating the stop controllingthe coin runway only when the lever engages the deeper depressions ofthe carrying wheel, substantially as herein described.

7. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination of a rotatable diskwith carrying wheel having series of alternating depressions ofdifferent depths in its periphery, a coin receptacle and setting andtripping means for rotating the disk through the deposit of a coin,acoin runway having a discharge to the exterior, a stop controlling saiddischarge, a lever Q adapted to engage the depressions of the carryingplate and to be limited at (litterent distances thereby, means operatedby the setting and tripping mechanism for forcing back said lever fromits engagement previous to the rotation of the disk and wheel, aspringcontrolled shaft of a clock-work mechanism operated by the settingand tripping mechanism, a ratchet bar for holding the lever Q withdrawnwhile the wheel is rotating, a means operated by the clock-workmechanism in exhausting, for tripping the ratchet bar to allow the leverto return to its engagement after the wheel and disk have come to astate of rest, and means operated by the saidlever in returning foractuating the stop controlling the coin runway only when the leverengages the deeper depressions of the carrying wheel, substantially asherein described.

8. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination of the rotating diskand'the notched and slotted carrying wheel 0, the lever Q engaging it,the coin runway with exterior discharge, the stop controlling saidrunway, and the lever T actuated by the lever Q for operating the stop,means for rotating the wheel 0, including the lever G, the gravitysafety stop W, at the end of the coin runway and the cord connecting itwith the lever G, substantially as herein described.

9. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination of the rotating disk,the coin runway having the exterior discharge, a setting and trippingmechanism for rotating'the disk, including the lever H with its swingingarm 72. and the swinging lever U operated by the arm h and having a stoppin controlling the passage of the coin through the runway,substantially as herein described.

10. In a coin-controlled apparatus, the combination of the coin runwayhaving the exterior discharge and an automatic stop controlling saiddischarge and the funnel communicating with the head of the runway andhaving a back discharge to theinterior of the apparatus through whichthe coins drop when the runwayis full,substantiallyas herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GUSTAV F. WV. SCHULTZE.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, J. A. BAYLESS.

